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Sunday, 30 January 2011

Saturday we have been invited to London to an expenses paid event being held by Dairylea which much to my husbands amusement involves the dreaded C word. Those who know me, will understand the humour. "COOKING" is not something I enjoy. Anyway I intend to put on my best "ooh, yes I can do this " face and join in the fun.

As it involves a trip to London on a train with the twins, we will of course be dressed in our Sunday Best. I was brought up in the "we might not have much but we always polish our shoes " generation. Also having been in the army being made to starch shirts within an inch of their life and polish shoes so that I could actually see my face in the toe cap, might have something to do with it.

These days we don't have the luxury of splashing out on extravagant new outfits, infact I rarely buy anything that is not either second hand or on sale. I actually enjoy finding great branded clothes at the lowest possible price. People often comment on how the twins or I am dressed and I am sure they don't believe the paultry amount of money we actually live on. So I thought it might be fun to show you what we will be wearing, where I bought it from and how much it cost.

Milo's outfit :

Second hand Armani jeans from Ebay £6.36

Replay and Son's Jumper from T K Maxx £14.99 - RRP £68.00

French Connection Tee shirt £6.99 from T K Maxx - RRP £16.00

Converse boots £15.00 Ebay

Jarvis' Outfit

Navy blue Armani jeans passed down from big brother

Blue & white stripe Ralph Lauren top purchased from my supplier - much less than the UK RRP of £39

Saturday, 22 January 2011

The winner picked from the bucket by Jarvis is : wendy_mcd83 CONGRATULATIONS ! Please DM or message me address details.

Thank you to everyone else for entering. More giveaways coming soon xxx

Its been a while so thought it was about time I had another giveaway. I was recently sent this clever highchair and shopping trolley cover but as my twins are slightly past the highchair stage and now only sit in the front of the trolley ontop of the shopping or hang off the sides !! I thought it might be a good item to offer in a giveaway.

Use the coverfun whilst out shopping or when eating out in resturants.

It has tabs on the front to attach toys to and is a pretty pastel stripe colour suitable for a boy or girl !

Extra long to cover the width of a shopping trolley and wrap around the sides of high chairs.

Its padded, and mashine washable.

To enter please just follow this blog and leave a comment with an id so that I can contact you. If you want to tweet about the giveaway then you will get an additional entry (please leave a separate comment for twitter entry) Likewise if you want to facebook it.

Giveaway closes on Friday 28th January 2011 at 8.00pm. Winner selected at random.

Thursday, 20 January 2011

Imagine how thrilled I was to be approached by the owner of the luxury childrens bedding company Babou offering me sponsorship for Cybermummy 2011 . Meleanie Hancock, the founder and inspiration behind this beautiful company just happens to be based in Sidmouth, Devon. Her company recently started following me on twitter and word reached Mel who decided to join us for our Devon Christmas Twitter lunch. It was over lunch whilst I was enthusing over Cybermummy, she suggested that she sponsor me. I couldn't imagine a more fitting company as a sponsor. Beautiful children's bedding and bath products ! I'm in heaven.

I was invited along to visit Babou HQ last week. I had a wonderful time viewing all the products, chatting with the team and being treated to a wonderful lunch. I also came away with 2 sets of the most gorgeous bedding for the twins!

Babou and I will be in partnership over the coming months offering competitions, giveaways, discounts and more. Make sure you are following them on twitter and facebook to ensure you qualify for all the wonderful things we have in store.

Monday, 17 January 2011

I've been tagged by the lovely caro over at Mummy Alarm to reveal seven secrets about myself. I may well have seven secrets but I would NEVER dream of revealing some of them to ANYONE! I will though share some things about me you might not know:

1. The first record (yes record, not cd) I brought was Elvis Presley's Polk Salad Annie in 1972 ! Yes, really ! My mother was Elvis Presley mad and it was a natural progression for me to love him too. To this day I still think he is one of the most beautiful men who ever lived.

2. I will be 50 Next year !!!!! Arrrgghhhh!

3. I was in the army for 10 years. You may already know that, but did you know that when I was posted to the Falklands I was one of the youngest serving sergeant in the Women's Royal Army Corps at the time. Get me ! and whilst there I also managed to get myself run over by a landrover.

4. I re-met and married my childhood sweetheart 25 years after first meeting him .

5. I have a pathalogical fear of Sharks ! I won't even paddle in the sea. I imagine them everywhere there is water. In swimming pools and even in my bath ! Often having to jump out when my imagination gets the better of me. I nearly passed out whilst walking through the shark tunnel at Sea World and had to be helped out in a state of shock. What possessed me to go in there in the first place I will never know.

6. I have a tattoo. Received whilst at a weekend Hell's Angels jaunt with No 1 son's father. I am saying no more on that one !

7. I hate CROC's and I particularly hate the ones with all the little clipy things all over them ! Sorry ! and erm, jogging bottoms ! .

Monday, 10 January 2011

I promised I would do it, so here it is....... Helen, under NO circumstances is Big J to see this clip !

Apologies for my haggered appearance, its the end of a long week of half term which has seen me at hospital with No 1 son and alone with the twins for the week !

I may never recover from revealing this on film, I am doing it in the name of science and for all those out there that want the tummy back that they had as 14 yr olds !

I had several attempts at filming so bare with it when it goes onto the belt. I couldn't see what I was filming, so had to have a second attempt and yes, I know those pants are truly shocking ! But cheap !

3 WEEKS IN !

It's 3 weeks today since I received my Slendertone Abs belt. It has to be said these days I have many balls to juggle so staying focused on one thing can prove difficult. Not so with my Abs belt. In fact, if I could stand it I would wear it in bed.... hhhmm ! now there's an idea, sure hubby would find it "interesting" they do say variety is the spice and all that ......

Annnyyyway !

I have worn it as per instruction 5 days out of every 7 for the last 3 weeks (recommended 6 week programme in total) I am upto 25 minutes at level 75 ! Anybody who has one of these belts or has experience of the levels involved will know this is no mean feat ! As previously described it can get quiet uncomfortable when you start moving up the levels but the very definite PLUS side is you actually SEE your tummy contract . Its a very odd sensation and I recommend time whilst wearing the belt is probably best spent trying to distract yourself , I like twitter, works for me and time flies. Drinking the wine and eating chocolate is probably not recommended.

So is it working ? I hear you scream ! For me , YES ! There is a definite ridge below where the belt sits. I measured my waistline (or rather where my waist should be ) 3 weeks ago and it was .......

well, lets just say there is an inch difference . (you don't think I was really going to tell you how much I measure did you ?) The days of being a trim 34/24/34 are long gone. In fact they never were ! but its more of a difference in the feel and look of my tummy. I can feel something hard sitting just below the wobbly tummy and dare I say, I think it might actually be tummy muscles!

So yes, I am thrilled with this lazy woman's tummy cruncher and intend to see the trial through to the end.

The family has got used to my screams now and don't even come running anymore. "Just mummy tightening her tummy"......

First Post

Twin sons. Contrary to popular belief, they were not small babies, one weighted in at 7lb, 2 oz and the other at 5lb, 6 oz. I was big when I was carrying them. The resulting tummy I now lug around with me resembles a pot belly pig and no amount of exercise (not that I stuck religiously to anything) can shift it. I still have ok legs, arms and quite a neat little bottom, if I say so myself. But my tummy and non existent waistline ...... Nooooo !

Me age 29 - I want THAT body back !

The twins have been neglected, they have missed out….. I refuse to go swimming with them. I hate how I look these days in a swimsuit. I have been told by friends they can't understand what I am talking about "I would die for your body" But I remember the body I used to have ! The washboard stomach, the skinny jeans without the muffin top. I looked great ! I want that body back, I want to look like Demi Moore on a budget !

I happened upon a tweet by a PR Person who was sending out Slendertone Abs belts for review. Being the cheeky girl I have become now that I can hide behind my laptop and tweet away to virtual strangers all day long. I jumped in and asked him to send me one. He duly obliged ! Whoop! It arrived special delivery the very next day. Now that's what I call impressive.

I have used it twice since receiving it on Saturday, its very simple to set up, you need to charge it for about 3 hours beforehand and the 3 jelly like wet/cold patches are uncomfortable when they first come into contact with your skin. But after that its all systems go. They advise you to set the level to 15 to start with, what they don’t tell you is that you have to do it to both sides ! I had my first session getting unto 49 on the left side and zero on the right ! .After only two sessions I am convinced it will work. It’s difficult to explain the feeling except to say you can really feel it pulling and rippling your stomach muscles. A sure sign it must be doing something ! It’s been compared to childbirth contractions or the feeling you get when you have a tattoo ! I have had both, and would definitely go for the tattoo option myself. I think the contractions comparison may well be if you ramp it right to the top straight away !

At risk of massive emotional trauma to myself I put on my swimsuit, purely for scientific purposes you understand. The obligatory "before" and "after" shot. So convinced am I that my new toy will work. Sadly, when I saw how I looked I couldn’t bring myself to publish it. As for my poor 15 yr old son who took the picture, he will never be the same again ! I promise though at the end of the programme (about 4 weeks) if there is a significant change to my shape I will publish!

Saturday, 8 January 2011

No 1 son is in his final year of school. He has a GCSE English exam on Monday and 3 more this month before taking the rest in the Summer.

All through his school life he has been credited with being bright, but perhaps not applying himself as well as he should. Over the years I just kept thinking, he has plenty of time to settle down, he's only 7, 11, 13! But well now, like all things in life crunch time is upon us! Where did all those years go?

Last night he came home from his girlfriend's house and casually advised me that he really did need a copy of 1984 for his exam next week! What! Why has it taken until now to occur to you that it was about time you found your "lost" copy! Of course, it was my entire fault, he told me ages ago. I vaguely remember a conversation in passing about 6 months ago, I think... I'm not getting into this conversation, past experience tells me I am doomed if I do and doomed if I don't with teenagers.

Said book located, we got down to serious talks about revision. Seems it has been happening, although I don't see much evidence of it. I then found myself (after several glasses of a very nice red) telling him that if he gets good grades he can have an iphone! There, it slipped out! How could I try to bribe my child! What example am I setting him! Am I insulting him, by assuming that he would try harder to do well if there was something in it for him? What if he tells his mates he's getting an iphone, and they tell their parents or the teachers find out? Oh! The shame of it. I'll never be able to look Mrs A in the face again!

Also, what if he doesn't achieve the grades? What do I do then? and it’s his 16th Birthday at the beginning of June. Do I give him the iphone then, before the results come out? Why am I talking about iphones, I could never afford one. OMG!....

When I think back to my school days and the O levels I sat, all I can remember is sitting for hours in my bedroom reciting into a tape recorder my notes and playing them back over and over again. Even falling asleep listening to my voice droning on and on. No incentive from my mother and my major concern on the day of the biggest exam of my life was my "shaggy" perm had gone disastrously wrong and I looked more like a poodle !

Tuesday, 4 January 2011

It has to be said my website clearance sale has been less than a roaring success !

After a year of "ok" sales on my website and Ebay store, I decided it would probably be a good idea to return to what I know best for the time being and just stock the designer brands that are my Top Sellers until the economy picks itself up out of the muck ! So with that in mind I listed for sale all the "other" stock I had left, some "not so perfect" designer items and some real designer bargains to grab interest. I have sold several items to wonderful Twitter pals and regular website customers but other than that the response has been poor indeed. Is this a sign that people really are tightening their belts or did I just time it wrong and people are basically all "sale'd" out, or God forbid, is my stock Rubbish! If you are an online business owner I'd love to know how you feel your sales versus the economy are going.

I intend to leave the clearance section on my website for the time being and add to it from time to time while I move forward with a positive attitude, some new ideas, a plan to revamp the website and my photographic content and a whole bundle of totaly delicious Ralph Lauren for babies, boys and girls for Spring/Summer 2011. I have survived starting my business during a recession and making a profit year on year with no debt to a bank or lender. I will not be beaten by doom and gloom merchants!

For those of you who have discovered that Ralph Lauren now has a UK website, pop over and take a look at the prices and then come back to me to buy ! I buy direct from suppliers in America, one who purchases from the high end department stores like Macy's. I have no overheads like the high street stores and make minimum profit. Allowing me to sell stylish clothes at great prices. You are guaranteed that all my items are authentic, first quality and new with tags attached.

So, although I am sad about the pretty pettiskirts, girly outfits etc and my little Milly By The Sea Range, its not goodbye, just au revoir .......

Sunday, 2 January 2011

I've just spent the last 3 days, sorting and listing stock for my Ebay shop and Website Clearance Sale . My husband is on the last day of five 12 hour shifts from 7 am to 7 pm. If we don't work, we don't earn money to support our family. There is no luxury of Bank Holidays or lazing around in front of the tv for us during the holiday season. I'm not complaining about this, its just a fact.

My worry is that during this time our 6 yr old twins have pretty much occupied themselves playing on computer and Wii games. They are happy, not fighting and more than content with all this "free" time. It's me that is having the terrible guilt trip ! They are on Christmas holidays, I should be playing with them, expanding their minds with creative play, taking them for long walks on the beach ( Excuse - I don't have the car to get there, hubby needs it for work).

I've been programmed to believe this is how it is, all around me great women are cooking, baking, crafting with their children. I look out of the window and see the family opposite. Mum, dad, boy, girl. Always sat at the table together or on the floor playing. You can see directly into their house from our bedroom (I'm not a peeping Tom honest!) Their TV is rarely on.

I feel pressure, pressure to succeed as a mum, at the job I do after giving up a well paid but hated position to persue my dream (always supported by my wonderful husband), as a wife.

It's 2011 - My resolutions :

to be a better mummy

to be a better wife

to not shout so much

to listen to my eldest son and trust him when he says he is doing revision for his G.C.S.E's in Jan and June this year !

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Welcome to the White Approach. My name is Karen and I live in a (mostly) white art deco home in Devon with the four men in my life. I love all things DIY, homes & interiors trends, budget style and lifestyle. We have slowly transformed our home on a very tight budget thanks to the amazing skill of my husband and my eye for a bargain.